Knitting machine



Feb. 2, 1960 w. M. GOLASKI 2,923,142

KNITTING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 7, 1956 INVENTOR. M64175? M. GOZAS/f/ BY 2 W ATTO/ WEX Feb. 2, 1960 w, M, GOLASKl 2,923,142

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTO/P/Yf X Feb. 2, 1960 w. M. GOLASKI KNITTING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Find Febfil, 1956 Feb. 2, 1960 w. M. GOLASKI 2,923,142

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

Feb. 2, 1960 w. M. GOLASKI KNITTING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 7, 1956 Arm M5)? Feb. 2, 1960 w, M, GOLASKl 2,923,142

v KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 '9 MMUNW u \nnmnuuu I H WW IN V EN TOR.

14441726? M GOZAI/K/ KNITTING MACHINE Walter M. Golaski, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application February 7, 1956, Serial No. 563,967

1 Claim. (Cl. 66-96) My invention relates to a flat, or full-fashion knitting machine of the type used for knitting sweaters, stockings and the like, and to the method of knitting the same.

The main object of the invention is to produce an improved machine, and an improved method, whereby a larger number of different, readily visible, symmetrical, and non-symmetrical designs may be produced in the fabric without the use of auxiliary yarn.

A further object of the invention is to produce an improve apparatus, and an improved method, whereby said designs may be produced with minimal addition of parts to, and with minimal alterations of the parts of, a conventional knitting machine.

A still further object is to carry out my invention by the use of modified narrowing fingers which operate within the body of the fabric to produce the designs referred to independently of the conventional selvedge fingers. In the following specification the modified narrowing fingers of my invention will be referred to as patterning fingers.

These and other objects are attained by my invention as set forth in the following specification and as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a skeletal, or outline, view of a conventional knitting machine embodying the invention, only such parts as are deemed necessary for an adequate disclosure of the invention being shown.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view showing how the usual narrowing fingers are modified to form the patterning fingers which are used to carry out my invention and showing one manner of operating said patterning fingers.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevational view of one of the patterning fingers shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view of another embodiment of the patterning finger shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

Figs. 6 to 10 inclusive are fragmentary and diagrammatic views showing different methods of operating the transfer, or fill-in, points.

Fig. 11 is a photograph of a piece of fabric knit according to my invention and showing one half of one of numerous designs which can be produced by my invention.

Figs. 12 and 13 show the manner in which stitches are transferred according to the method, and by the apparatus, of my invention and showing how bands of wales are oriented as a result of Widening of the fabric.

In Fig. 1 there are shown selvedge fingers 14 and 15 which are conventional in structure and operation, and form no part of the present invention. Therefore, these fingers are not shown and described in detail and will not be hereinafter further referred to. The present invention resides in modifying a pair of conventional narrowing fingers and in operating them in the manner hereinafter set forth, to produce patterning fingers 10 and 2,923,142 Fatented Feb. 2, 1960 ice 12 which operate on the body of the fabric inwardly of the selvedges thereof.

The body of each of patterning fingers 10 and 12 may be constructed as shown in Fig. 3, .or as shown in my Patent No. 2,755,646 of July 24, 1956 or as shown in Cobert Patent No. 2,330,681 of February 28, 1943, and, therefore, will not be described. It is sufficient to point out that, as shown in Fig. 4, each patterning finger is provided with a bank of fixed transfer points which operate conventionally, and with one, .or more, vertically movable fill-in points located at opposite sides of the transfer points and that, in the structure-of Fig. 5., one or more vertically movable fill-in points are located between, as well as on both sides of the conventional fixed transfer points.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, finger 10 is providedwith conventional, fixed transfer point 16 and with one, or more, inner fill-in points 18, and with one, or more, outer fill-in points 20. Likewise finger 12 is provided with conventional, fixed transfer points 16 and with one or more, inner fill-in points 22 and with one or more, outer fill-in points 24. In the embodiment of Fig. 5, finger 10" (or 12) is provided with conventional fixed transfer points 16, with one, or more, inner and outer fill-in points 18' and 20, and with one or more fill-in points 26 and 27 located between the transfer points 16. It will be understood that the number of fixed transfer points and the number of fill-in points used on each finger can be varied according to the desired effect. The fill-in points referred to are carried by arms which are mounted for vertical movement, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3 or longitudinally of the vertical axes of fixed points 16. Arms may be mounted and actuated in the manner set forth in the Cobert and Golaski patents above mentioned or they may be actuated in the manner set forth below.

In Fig. '2, outer fill-in points 20 and 24 of fingers 1t) and 12 are carried by short shanks which terminate in hooks 30 and inner fill-in points 18 and 22 are carried by long shanks which terminate in hooks 32. Ho0ks30 engage rod 34 which is carried by knuckles 3'6 and hooks 32 engage rod 38 which is "carried by knuckles 40. Knuckles 36 are fixed-on shaft 42 and knuckles 40 are fixed on shaft 44 and the arrangement is such that when either shaft 42 or 44 is rotated in counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3, the fill-in points carried thereby are raised to their upper position which is shown, for example, at the right hand end of Fig. 4 and at the left hand end of Fig. 5. In this position these fill-in points are inoperative in the sense that they cannot engage the fabric when the patterning fingers dip to engage transfer points 16 with the fabric. Conversely when either shaft 42 or 44 is rotated in clockwise direction, the fill-in points will be lowered to the position which is shown, for example, at left hand end of Fig. 4. In this position, the fill-in points .are operative in the sense that they will engage the fabric whenever the patterning fingers dip into the fabric. Shafts 42 and 44 are rotated in proper timed relation by any suitable mechanism, not shown, and patterning fingers 10 and 12 are racked inwardly and outwardly by conventional means, not shown, both operations being controlled by the pattern chain :of the machine in the well known manner. It is sufficient to point out that, as shown in Fig. 2, the outer :fill-in points 20 and 24, which are carried by rod 34, are raised and lowered together and that the same is true of inner fill-in points 18 and 22 which are carried by rod 38. In other words, outer fill-in points 20 of finger 10 act with outer fill-in points 24 of finger 12 and inner fill-in, points I i 3 tion, both the outer and inner fill-in points will be raised to an inoperative, or non-engaging position.

In the embodiment of Fig. 5, alternate fill-in points and 27 are carried by red 34', which corresponds to rod 34, and alternate fill-in points-26 and 18' are carried by rod 38' which corresponds to rod 38.

As shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the shanks which carry the fill-in points are provided with racks 50 which engage an intermediate gear 52 loosely mounted on shaft 53. Also, one of the shanks of the fill-in points on each patterning finger is actuated to the desired extent by an operating rod similar to operating rod 34 or operating rod 38. In this embodiment, the shank of the fill-in point on one patterning finger is connected to one operating rod and the shank of the fill-in point on the other finger is connected to a separate operating rod. For convenience, the finger shown in Fig. 6 has been designated as finger 10 of Fig. 2 and the finger shown in Fig. 8 has been designated as finger 12 of Fig. 2. Similarly the operating rod of Fig, 6 has been designated as operating rod 38 of Fig. 2 and the operating rod of Fig. 8 has been designated as rod 34 of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment of Fig. 9, each inner and each outer fill-in point is actuated by a flexible shaft 54 having a roll 56 which rides on, or olf, one of a number of cams 58:: on drum 58. Drum 58 is rotated by shaft 60. In Fig. 10, roll 56 of each shaft 54 rides on an individual cam 59 which is rotated by shaft 61. Shafts 60 and .61 are operated by the pattern chain of the knitting machine in the well known manner.

Instead of gears and racks of Figs. 6, 7 and 8, or

instead of the flexible shafts and cams of Figs. 9 and 10, it is within the scope of the invention to actuate each inner and each outer fill-in point, or set of points, by means of a separate, suitably controlled fluid-operated, or solenoid or other electrically operated mechanism. Since the essence of this invention is in the provision of one or more fill-in points on both sides of the transfer points of each narrowing finger, and in the order of movement of the fill-in points and the concomitant inward and outward racking of the patterning fingers, and since the means necessary for moving these parts may be rigged up by any person skilled in this art, said mechanisms are not shown or described.

' In general, one result of the operation of the patterning fingers and the fill-in points according to my invention, is shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13 and is briefly described as follows:

When fingers 10 and 12 dip down into the fabric, transfer points 16 (or 16') lift stitches from the corresponding needles and when the patterning fingers move laterally of the fabric, the stitches lifted by the transfer points are placed on the needles to the right, or to the left, according to the direction in which the patterning fingers are racked. For example, if the fingers are racked outwardly as shown in Fig. 12, needles 16a which are acted on by finger 10 and needles 16b which and diverging gores will be produced. These holes are covered by stitches 16c and 16d which are picked up.

by the corresponding fill-in points and placed on needles 16a and 16b, respectively, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13. If fingers 10 and 12 are racked inwardly, the effect produced will be opposite to that shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

The spread stitches 16c and'16d are of the locked or non-run type, but it is possible, by modifying the patterning fingers as shown in my prior Patent No. 2,722,117 of November 1, 1955, or as shown in the Cobert Patent No. 2,330,681 of September 8, 1943, to pick up stitches from a previous course, and to spread them first longitudinally or forwardly and then laterally before placing them on needles in the current course, or to spread them diagonally from the previous, to the current course, as in the practice in what is known as the English system.

, in the said Cobert patent.

in my prior patent, and in the Cobert patent and in the so-called English system, only one fill-in point is used on the inner side of each patterning finger. This had the efiect of limiting the use of the fill-in point to cases where the patterning fingers were racked outwardly. This is due to the fact that, if the fingers having fill-in points at their inner sides only, such as fill-in points 18 and 22, are racked inwardly, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 12, gores, or holes, will be produced in the fabric and such fingers will operate as shown in the Cobertpatent and cannot be used to make a wide pattern in the body of the fabric. On the contrary, because fill-in points 18 and 22 will close the openings which are produced when the fingers are racked outwardly and fill-in points 20 and 24 will close the openings produced when the fingers are racked inwardly, my patterning fingers can be racked inwardly and outwardly to produce a raised pattern without any gores adjacent said patterns. This arrangement makes it possible to produce various designs within the body of the fabric without leaving any gores on either side of the design produced and without the use of an extra yarn and extra carrier. The industry has long faced the problem of making designs in the body of a sweater, but the only way it has heretofore been possible to do so is by introducing an extra yarn through an extra carrier. This procedure is prohibitively expensive except for sweaters sold in stores which cater to the financially elite. Also stretching and spreading only one stitch did not fully cover the corresponding hole and the net efiect was that a gore formed of smaller holes remained visible, though not as visible as it would be had no stitches been spread and transferred as shown By contrast, the spreading of two stitches, as herein shown, completely closes the gore holes. In fact, this arrangement produces a prominent ridge or line, as shown at 62 in Fig. 11. Spreading two stitches and placing them on needles in the same course is, of itself, more effective in closing the gore holes even if only one stitch is picked up and spread instead of two.

While, as stated, one inner and one outer fill-in point can be used, I prefer to use two, or more, fill-in points so as to spread two or more stitches which overlap as shown in Figs. 12 and 13. In addition to more effectively closing the gore holes, the overlapping of the spread stitches produces the prominent, or readily visible ridge 62 above referred to. The transfer of a number of stitches laterally produces a band, or stripe, 64, the wales of which are angularly oriented with reference to the normal wales 65 of the conventional fabric surrounding the band. The junction of the angularly onented wales 64 with the normal wales 65, in the absence of overlapping stitches 16c and 16d, produces a less prominent boundary line 66. Fig. 11, which shows these effects, only shows the result of the operation of finger 10 in fabric widening direction, but it will be understood that the operation of finger 12 will produce a similar, but oppositely oriented band.

If a smaller number of narrowing points 16 than that shown is used, the effect imparted to the design by the slanting of a smaller number of wales will be correspondingly reduced. Also, if only one fill-in point is used on each side of the narrowing points 16, ridge 62 will be less prominent.

The embodiment of Fig. 5, having three or more sets of fill-in points, will produce a correspondingly varied design depending on Whether the fill-in points are operated as shown in Fig. 2 or as shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

In Fig. 12, the patterning is effected in spaced courses I whereas in Fig. 13 the patterning is effected in a large number of successive courses and is responsible for the appearance produced in Fig. 11,

The specific operation of the embodiment of Figs. 2 and 5 is as follows:

Because, in the structure of Figs. 2 and 5, outer fill-in points 20 and 24 operate together and inner fill-in points operate together, only symmetrical V, inverted V, or diamond shaped designs can be produced. It is of course possible to provide a separately movable operating rod for each outer and each inner fill-in point, or sets of points, but, because of lack of room between the parts of the machine and because of other mechanical complications, it is not deemed practical to do so.

However, the structure of Figs. 9 and 10 is not so limited because, in these embodiments, the outer and inner fill-in points on each narrowing finger can be raised or lowered independently of each other and independently of the inner or outer fill-in points on the other narrowing finger. By this arrangement a number of symmetrical and non-symmetrical designs, too numerous to illustrate, can be produced.

In addition to the various designs, my invention also enables me to produce localized distortions which produce what may be called local fashioning. For example, by moving the patterning fingers away from each other for the required number of courses and by then moving the patterning fingers toward each other for a like number of courses, a diamond shaped design will be produced and I have found that the fabric tends to bulge in the vicinity of the meeting of the bases of the V and inverted V which form the diamond design. This bulge produces a pocket effect which receives a breast. Also, slanted wales 64, and a band of slanted ridges 62 and 66 will coincide with the general boundary of the breast received in the pocket and will greatly enhance the appearance of the bosom. In other words, a sweater 6 so constructed may be said to have built-in brassieres. It is to be understood that parts 10 and 12 can be used as narrowing fingers for narrowing and widening the fabric. I claim: A patterning finger for a knitting machine of the type which produces a fiat fabric, said finger including atleast one fixed transfer point which is operative to transfer a stitch from one wale to another, a pair of arms, one at each side of said fixed transfer point, at least one fill-in point carried by each of said arms, means mounting each of said arms for movement longitudinally of the axis of said fixed point, and actuating means for moving said arms to move the fill-in point carried by one of said arms into engagement with the fabric and simultaneously to move the fill-in point, carried by the other of said arms, out of engagement with said fabric and vice versa, said actuating means including a rack carried by each of said arms, and an idle gear between said racks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 431,135 Barfoot July- 1, 1890 2,330,681 Cobert Sept. 28, 1943 2,330,683 Cobert Sept. 28, 1943 2,755,646 Golaski July 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,935 Great Britain of 1890 13,388 Great Britain of 1903 161,398 Great Britain Apr. 14, 1921 762,101 Great Britain Nov. 21, 1956 168,415 Germany Mar. 8, 1906 190,894 Germany Oct. 31, 1906 

